


Reunion

by GoddessofBirth



Category: Firefly
Genre: DARK DARK DARK, F/M, Starcrossed Lovers, did I mention dark?, not sexy times, the M is for violence, this is not a sexy times story, vengeful!Jayne, well...I guess that depends on your POV, who do not take their lives, worst case scenarios - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-17
Updated: 2013-03-17
Packaged: 2017-12-05 13:57:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/724051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoddessofBirth/pseuds/GoddessofBirth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Somehow they'd all forgotten he was a wolf in their midst; forgotten he was the same man who dumped a partner from a shuttle, the same man who shot his employer in the leg for a better bunk, the same man who'd gutted a man for hitting his sister, and then watched him slowly die, all while he continuously begged Jayne for mercy. He only had one real loyalty now, and it was not to them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reunion

He gave one more shake before releasing his choke hold on the man's neck and letting him slide to the ground. He sneered at the terrified expression on his face while idly running his fingers down the knife at his side, an unspoken warning to him should he try to alert anyone of his arrival. The man blanched before picking himself up and scurrying away down the dusty street.

 

He payed him no mind, staring up at the large, mid-class boarding house. He'd been trailing them for months, ever since he'd woken on a forgotten moon, a lump on his head, a needle mark in his neck, and his things dumped carelessly beside him. He'd always been one step behind, though; one job too late, one way station too slow.

 

Until now.

 

He strode purposefully through the lobby, ignoring both alcohol and whores, as well as the indignant cry of the desk clerk when he neither stopped to pay nor paused to check in. He was challenged at the stairs by some type of low paid security. He didn't even look at him as he swung his arm out and caught him in the belly with a blade.

 

No one bothered him after that.

 

At the third floor landing he turned and stalked down the hall until he reached the fifth door on the left. The air around it smelled of gun oil and leather and the tiniest scent of medicine, all mixing together into a dank stink of betrayal. Without ceremony, he un-hostered his gun, drew back his leg and kicked the door in.

 

Mal was sitting at the table, cleaning a gun, and his head jerked up at the splintering crash of the door against the wall. ' _Gao yang jo-_ ' He never had the chance to finish his profanity,and his hand never completed the task of fumbling at the gun on his side as Jayne smoothly aimed, sighted, and unhesitatingly pulled the trigger of his own weapon. A red hole appeared in the center of Mal's forehead and a spray of crimson mist coated the chair behind him. He crumpled and fell to the floor, eyes still staring wide.

 

The door to the adjoining room swung open. 'Captain? I thought I heard gunshots...' Simon was drying his hands on a small towel, and his voice trailed off when he saw Jayne, a look of horror sliding across his face as he took in Mal's still form and the blood splashed across the room.

 

'Should have known better, Doc. Should have known I'd be on yer heels. Did ya really think you'd stop me? Where is she?'

 

Simon's jaw hardened. 'Go to hell,' he spat defiantly.

 

Jayne's patience was done. 'You first,' he sneered, and fired. The force of the bullet knocked Simon off his feet and he slammed into the wall, fruitlessly scrabbling at the blood spurting from the wound in his throat.

 

He'd barely stopped twitching when there was the sound of pounding feet in the hall, but Jayne already had his muzzle up and waiting when Zoe appeared. Her eyes darted between Jayne and the two corpses and she slowly raised her hands, letting her own gun spin down loose from her finger.

 

'Where they keepin' her, Zo'?'

 

The first mate pursed her lips into a hard line but remained expressionless, her eyes continuing to travel around the room. He could see her mind working, scoping out possible strategies, possible escape routes.

 

'Zo'...' he said warningly. 'I ain't playin' here. You got the brains ta know that, and I ken you didn't 'xactly agree with Mal an' Simon.' If fact, he'd bet she was the only reason he woke up at all. When something flashed across her eyes, he knew he was right, but she kept silent, still a loyal soldier.

 

'Last chance, Zoe. Don't wanna do it, on account you got the kid, but I will put a bullet in you here an' now, you don't tell me _where she is_.' He spoke the last bit through gritted teeth.

 

She looked one last time at Mal and Simon before slowly nodding and turning on her heel. He followed her back out into the hall and up two more floors before she stopped and jerked her head toward a closed door.

 

'Git,' he hissed. 'You git the boy an' go. You try anything, I won't stop at just you, ya get my drift?' His reason was gone, bled out slowly over long months of fruitless leads and lonely nights. At one time he'd have been horrified at what he was doing, but that loyalty had disappeared the minute they had tried to take her from him. In its place burned an unholy mix of vengeance and desperate need.

 

The door was unlocked, and when Zoe turned the corner back to the stairs, he pushed it silently open. Kaylee jumped up from where she was sitting on the edge of the bed.

 

'Jayne?' Her eyes widened when there was no softening in his face, when there was barely even a flicker of recognition.

 

'Out,' he ordered.

 

'Jayne,' she said carefully, as she slowly edged her way toward the door. 'Where's Simon?'

 

'Out of all of 'em,' his spit out, 'Out a ev'rybody, thought you'd be the one ta speak for us. But you didn't do _go se_ did ya? Just sat there an' watched.'

 

'But Simon said - '

 

'Simon said!' he laughed without humor. 'Well, Simon ain't sayin' nothin' no more. Now _git_.' She gave a wordless cry and darted from the room, to be immediately dismissed.

 

She didn't matter, none of them mattered. Somehow they'd all forgotten he was a wolf in their midst; forgotten he was the same man who dumped a partner from a shuttle, the same man who shot his employer in the leg for a better bunk, the same man who'd gutted a man for hitting his sister, and then watched him slowly die, all while he continuously begged Jayne for mercy. He only had one real loyalty now, and it was not to them.

 

He slowly approached the chair at the far end of the room, situated facing a window. He could barely smell her over the overwhelming stink of drugs. He'd expected that, though, knew without question that her being dosed senseless would be the only thing keeping her from running away to find him. Even expecting it, he still had to stifle a gasp when he rounded the chair and saw her.

 

She was sitting limp and listless, her eyes staring blankly into the sunlight. Her hair had lost its shine, and her skin had dulled to an unhealthy pallor. She didn't flinch when he waved his hand in front of her face.

 

He knelt in front of her and covered her hands with his, his eyelids falling momentarily closed as his body relaxed at the feel of her. 'Baby,' he whispered. 'Baby, wake up. We gotta go.'

 

She didn't move, except for the steady rise and fall of her shallow breathing. _Fuck_. What the hell had they done to her? It was going to take days for her to come out of this, and he wished he'd killed them both more slowly.

 

'River,' he tried again, slightly shaking her. 'It's Jayne. You in there?' She twitched, a finger tip nudging against his, and an eyelash flickered.

 

He could hear sirens in the distance and in desperation he squeezed his eyes shut and drawing his hand back, struck her across the face.

 

She blinked slowly. 'Jayne?' her voice was hoarse, and he hoped it was from disuse, and not from screaming. 'You came.' Her words were slurred together, but she was finally seeing him with real attention.

 

He scooped her up and headed toward the door, pausing to nab a medical bag in one hand while keeping his gun aimed in the other. 'Hell yeah I came. Course I came. You knew I would, right?'

 

Her head bobbed against his shoulder as she limply nodded. 'Knew...the girl thought she knew. But so many needles and her mind began to doubt her knowledge. What was fact and what was desire? For her own good, he said. Until she was stable, he said. She said no, but he wouldn't listen. Why wouldn't he listen, Jayne? Why bother saving her if he was just going to steal her will again? Mal and Simon, two by two. When did their hands turn blue?'

 

He stole down the hallway, toward the fire escape he'd scouted out earlier. Time was up, and he could hear shouts and footsteps from the lower floors. He shouldered the back door open and stepped out into the midmorning air, his feet echoing on the grating.

 

'Fuck if I know, baby girl.' Well, he did know; knew they thought he'd taken advantage, knew they believed her mind wasn't right enough to know better. It was _niou se –_ he might be a bad man, but he never would have touched her if her eyes hadn't been completely lucid the first time she'd twirled up on her tiptoes and kissed him, never would have pursued her if he hadn't been sure it was what she wanted. But Mal and Simon had to find a reason, some excuse as to why she would let a man who had tried to sell her bring her to bed.

 

That she might love him was simply beyond their comprehension, that he might need her was more than they could accept. And so there had been the fight and the trap, the drugs and the dump. Inara might have been able to talk sense into them, but Mal had finally driven her from the ship for good months before.

 

So, yeah, he understood the reasons, even if he sure as hell didn't comprehend them. And besides, they could talk about that when her veins were running clear and her eyes were hers again. He couldn't wait to get her back on ship, where he could wash the iodine smell from her skin, could wake her up and put his imprint back on her body.

 

Of course, first, they had to get off this planet alive.

 

He threw her over his shoulder and started down the ladder. Her hand gripped his side in a sudden vice and she abruptly asked, 'Where's Simon?'

 

He wouldn't lie to her. 'Dead.'

 

'Good,' she muttered emphatically, before passing out against his back.

 

He huffed and rolled his eyes before taking off at a run toward the maze of the shopping district, hoping to find a place to hide until nightfall.

 


End file.
